In an opposition filed Friday, House General Counsel Douglas Letter said Eastman has known “for some time” that the committee was considering the crime-fraud exception, as Carter asked counsel on Jan. 24 “whether they were contemplating an argument that the privilege should be abrogated due to the crime-fraud exception,” and Letter replied “it might very well be” that they eventually raise it. 

Letter also said there’s no legal basis to apply criminal case law such as Brady to a civil proceeding that does not jeopardize anyone’s liberty.